Space technology and human development

SPACE AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: Mohan Sundara Rajan; Published by Gandhi Center of Science and Human Values, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Race Course Road, Bangalore-560001. Rs. 50.

THE AUTHOR has written several books on space technology and related topics, some of which have been published by the National Book Trust.

A visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore, he had earlier served the Asian Development Bank, Manila. In the slim volume under review here he presents an account of how space technology can contribute towards human development.

At present the benefits derived from advances in space technology include worldwide communication, information exchange and of course the satellite TV, which, unfortunately is heavily loaded in favour of cheap entertainment and advertising.

The author begins by tracing the growth of space technology in our country starting with the work done by Indian astronomers Aryabhata and Bhaskaracharya.

The former had propounded a sun-centric universe more than a hundred years before Copernicus came up with his theory, while the latter put forward a theory outlining the earth's attraction (gravity) nearly 1200 years before Newton came up with his theory of gravitation.

Then there was the Indian physicist Jagdish Chander Bose and his invention of wireless communication before Marconi appeared on the scene.

The author gives an account of the pioneering work done by Vikaram Sarabhai who was the brainchild behind the creation of the space centre in Thumba in 1965 from where India's very first rocket RH-75 was launched. Regular launches of sounding rockets followed once the rocket fabrication facility was set up in Thumba in 1971.

Later that year the Sriharikota rocket range was built and commissioned. Then followed the SLVs, ASLVs and PSLVs and India's success in placing payloads in sun-synchronous orbits using the PSLVs.

There is a chapter dealing with orbital dynamics where the author discusses various types of orbits: geostationary, geostationary transit, near-earth and sun-synchronous polar.

The author has discussed the INSAT series of satellites and the avenues opened up by them; satellite TV, dedicated communication systems using VSAT (very small aperture terminals) and the upcoming digital radio broadcasts directly from a satellite and the satellite radio, to mention a few.

The other areas where space technology has made contributions include weather forecasting, monitoring distress calls and organising search and rescue missions, remote sensing and imagery (where India's capability is recognised worldwide), study of earth's atmosphere, and conducting scientific experiments through the scientific workshops convened by the ISRO.

One would look forward to a day when the space-based technology would be more meaningfully utilised for human development rather than for the kind of the cheap commercial TV programmes we have in plenty now. One would also expect the International Space Station now in orbit and under development to offer a new window on human development.

The book has a foreword by the eminent nuclear physicist, Raja Ramanna, who has expressed the hope that young people, including students, would benefit from reading the short treatises, including the present book.

C. V. SUBRAMANIAM

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